The Ashen Earth: The Maze Runner
by Tesla23
Summary: The Sequel of The Death Cure
1. Chapter 1

The Ashen Earth: The Maze Runner

Authors Note: This is my first original book, so it's not that good, I know.

Chapter 1

Darkness engulfed the corridor, leaving only the recollection of the shining beacon of hope. The floor was filthy, covered in a thick layer of fecal matter about the thickness of an average finger. Starvation bit at my stomach, causing pain beyond my wildest dreams. Chains restricted my ligaments stopping movement. Mold and slime covered the walls, making a nauseating smell and sight.

Bones could be viewed in my ribcage, for all the fat that had been stored has wasted away. Thirst gnawed at me, making the condition even worse. I felt like crying, letting all the pain and fear come loose, but dehydration prevented me from doing those things. My face had sunken in from the duration of the time of my imprisonment, making me look and become extremely unhealthy. Breath seemed nearly impossible now, for all the vile odors that lurked in the air. Life was unbearable, kept on only by the fact that I did not have the strength to bash my head in the wall, or make my shirt into an choking device and use that to finish me off. Instead, I was left to rot in this hell hole for the rest of eternity, meant to die a painful death, with much suffering and agony. Sleep was overtaking me, and I knew that if I closed my eyes, they would not open. I began to close them, and as I did, a light came from the outside of my eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

The Ashen Earth: The Maze Runner

A/N: This is my second chapter. I took your advice and made it longer, and so with out further ado, I give to you The Ashen Earth, part 2

Chapter 2

My eyes bolted upward, eager to see the new golden illumination. My eyes were shocked at the radiance from the glowing source of light, sending my hand to attempt to shield it out. A jolt of pain was sent through my arm as I tried to do the simplest of tasks. My eyes sealed shut, trying to cut off the light, but it was no use. The light was so strong that it went straight threw the little layer of skin. I began to think of ways that I could tone down the immense quantity of the everlasting glow. I tried to put my head in my shirt, but it still caused a burning sensation in my eyes. I quickly jammed my head into my leg, sending a wave of agony to my non nourished leg and forehead.

"Thomas…" came a familiar voice that I instantly recognized. My heart stopped, because either: A) I was dead, B) I was batshit crazy, or C) Theresa had somehow survived the collapsing building, and somehow gotten into the flatrans and now she's here with me. I almost knew that option C was out of the question, so either I was crazy or dead. Either way, it was better than being sane and alive in this hell hole.

"Thomas, listen to me this important, we don't have much time…" Just as she said that, an ear piercing explosion could be heard in the background. My body jerked to the side, making me lose my sitting position and fall to the floor, face first.

"Thomas, I need to go, but before I do," she said in a hurried voice." Head my advice. Do not trust anyone. Not even yourself. Tough times are coming, for all you saw in the WICKED laboratory was but the outskirts of the hurricane. The real storm has just begun, masked by the eye. Beware, Thomas, for after this, nothing will ever be the same."

With that, she disappeared into the air, braking all known laws of physics. Ok, so I am going batshit crazy, good to know. All of a sudden, a man came in that I only knew too well. My heart raced with fear, imagining all the possibilities. All of the possibilities I thought of, though lead to pain or death. He had a devilish grin, not making me feel any better about the situation at hand.

"Hello Thomas." Oh shit, get the fuck away from me rat-man. "... Its been awhile since our last confrontation, after you left me to DIE! But no worries, because I am better than that, I am willing to put that aside.

"Bullshit you are going to do that…" I said in a moan. "You think I'm that desperate to actually be in the same room in you willingly, let alone actually trust you full on. Especially after you trapped me in here."

"Ah, so you really think I trapped you in here?" He said "No, that was your own doing. I simply helped you to get in the situation. You asked to join this research team, and there is no going back! Like the people used to say in the old days, There ain't no rest for the WICKED!"


	3. Chapter 3

Ashen Earth:The Maze Runner

**A/N: I Took your advice and loosened up on the vocab, so I hope you enjoy it, and without further adieu, I present to you chapter 3.**

Chapter 3

Adrenaline pumped through me as the chill of ice hit my face. Instinct took over, make my body bolt up with suddenness that made everyone in the room jolt from surprise. Muscles tensed up throughout my body, making him extremely stiff. My body was soaked with freezing water and ice. My eyes sprang open, becoming fully aware of my surroundings. People crowded me, there voices meaning nothing to me at the moment. No, all that I could think about was the dream, and how real it was. It made no sense, tough times are coming? Don't trust anybody? I mean, that doesn't sound like her to me, and I sure as hell wasn't thinking about that.

"Thomas..." I began to hear as I drifted back into reality. "Thomas... it's me, Brenda, are you all right? We heard you screaming, and when we came to check on you, you were asleep, screaming at the top of your lungs. Thomas, if you can hear me, do something, anything..." Brenda said with deep concern in her voice.

"He's fine..." Minho said as he approached me "...He probably just had a bad dream, and it scared him. Lord knows I've had some pretty rough dreams since I've been here."

"I'm fine guy's, I just had a bad dream, like Minho said. All I need is some food, because I am starving!"

We ate deer from the fields that Minho had hunted. I devoured it, as if I hadn't eaten for day's.

"Leave some for us," Aris said "we need to eat to."

"Shut the fuck up." I said in a "I-don't-care-tone."

"Both of you need to shut up." Minho said. "We have a long day ahead of us today, and we need to build a shelter and begin to plant some of the plants in the area. This place doesn't look like much, but when you get deeper into the woods, there's a ton of food, like berry bushes, and even some wheat.

"Well, we also need to find a way to cut down some of these trees." I said. "Because unless you plan on cutting it down with your bare hands, I suggest making an Axe-like device.

"Well, before that Thomas..." Aris said "I am dieing to know what the dream that you had was."

"Aris! Obviously, he would have told us if he had wanted us to know." Brenda snapped at Aris.

"No Brenda, it's fine, I can tell him the dream." I said with a half smile. I told them everything, from the condition of the room, all the way to the approximate dimensions of the room itself. Their faces were horror struck, shifting only when I breathed to make the next sentence. There eye's, on the other hand, showed interest. Interest to the most minute detail. There mouth's laid open with aw. It truly shocked them about everything. Then, when I got to the part about Theresa, and Rat-Man, they just sat there, to stunned to say anything.

At last, Minho broke the silence with: "Well, we can discuss this later, but we do really need to begin working on that shelter and supplies.


	4. Chapter 4

The Ashen Earth: The Maze Runner

Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long, but I have been busy with school, so ya.**

"OK, so this is how shits gonna go down." Minho said in a stern voice. "Thomas, you are in charge of getting FRESH water; Brenda, you get berries and plants. I do hope that you know how to discern from what is safe to eat, and what is not safe to eat, am I correct?" She gave a slight nod, not letting a word slip out. "Finally, me and Aris will go and get some of the smaller trees and pull them from the ground. Are there any questions?"

"Wait, why do I have to pull the trees from the ground?" Aris moaned. "Can't I do something else, like go to sleep?"

"You will help me, or you won't get to sleep under the shelter. See those clouds in the distance? He said. "Those are rain clouds, and unless you want to sleep in the fucking rain, I suggest that you go ahead and help me pull the trees from the ground."

Aris quivered, for he could tell that he was being dead serious. Fear coursed throughout bis body, making him tremble immensely. He knew he had lost, and was about to make a fool of Minho if it was the last thing that he did.

"Now, I was just joking, lighten up. You know, there was a time when..." Aris protested.

"Times are different..." Minho said a calm and peacefull voice. "If we want to survive in this place, we need to work together to survive. This, however..." his voice tensed up."Is not acceptable. We can not have such... nonsense in this new world. Do I make my self clear?"

Silence wondered around the forest, making only the distant sound of birds chirping be heard.

"I said, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR" Minho said with all of his might.

"Yes" Aris said in a reluctant tone.

"Aris, come with me." Minho said in a grave voice.

Aris reluctantly followed, asking where they were going, but Minho would simply not answer. He just kept on saying "A place of major importance." They went into the woods, where they disapeared into the mess of wood and bush. Nothing was heard for minutes, but then all of a sudden, screams of pain and agony arose from the depth of the forest.

My first instinct was to go see what had happened, but Rachel held me back.

"That won't do anything, only make it worse." She said, as if she had read my mind. I couldn't believe it, the man, who we had been through thick, and thin through, had just beaten Aris. When I had first met him, he had a very good humor, but now all of it had been filled with hate and seriousness.

A few hours later, Minho came back, with Aris dragging along the dirt path. He had been beaten completely. He had black eyes, and a disfigured face. His shirt was bloody, and he had a blood trail after him. He was completely cripled, blood spewing from his chest, and all of his limbs.

"I hope we've learned our lesson, bow let's get to work.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Maze Runner

**A/N: Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that this chapter is a bit confusing, and I'm sorry, but I ran out of ideas and I was like YOLO.**

The task of getting fresh water was not easy. It was a task that took a lot of focus and concentration. The act of finding water was not the difficult part, but rather finding a way to store it in such a manner that it did not waste any.

From my former knowledge of islands, I knew that we were not on a regular island, but instead a coral island, upon which the ground -which is not apparent to the average mind- is made of grinded up coral from the tides. Also, I could tell by the types of trees that this was the type of island that it rained for half of the year, while the other half, the island was left to thrive off last rains remains.

Knowing this, and the fact that coral absorbs, one can deduce that the rain water would get trapped, and fresh rain water would be at the bottom. However, the simple reality that coral is denser than water still remains a big obstacle. To reach the first sign of water, you would have to dig at least a foot (0.3048 meters), and that is only to hit moisture! To reach actual water that could actually be used, you would have to dig three feet. Normally, with a shovel, this would only take half an hour, but with only my bare hands it would at least take two hours! Two hours that I simply did not have. There had to be some other practical solution to this predicament.

I scavenged every corner of my brain, thinking of all the possible solutions to the problem. _Think, I could… no, don't have plastic… ooh! I could… no, I don't have a burner… ooh I know! _The raging cycle rushed through my head, going as fast as the Calvin cycle (a biological process that is used in photosynthesis). This process kept on for about twenty minutes, until finally, the solution became perfectly clear. _Come on, think, Think, THINK!... _A thunderous _BOOM!_ Could be heard in the distance. A storm was coming, and a storm meant water. _Of course, Minho did mention something about a storm, now didn't he? If I could somehow collect the water… but how? _He thought about it for a few seconds, than it all made sense now. _Maybe, just maybe, I could use these rough leaves from these palm trees, weave a basket strong enough to store all of this water, and then attach it to a sturdy structure, like at the top of one of these trees and then when the storm came, it would collect water so that in the morning, it would have collected enough water for us to use. But why stop at one –Cut Scene—I could make thousands, and rule the world!—End of Cut scene—I could make five, and in the morning, I would have five times more water than I would have if I were to only do one!_ I begin to my journey…


End file.
